Aftermath
by Somariel
Summary: Iroh receives word of the Gaang's victories and gives someone a well-earned tongue-lashing.


I wish I owned A:TLA, but I don't

A/N: Many, many, many thanks are due to my amazing beta, amanda91. Without her, this story would be nowhere near as polished and it would not have reached its current form.

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><p>As Iroh oversaw the details of the surrender of the Fire Nation's forces to the Order of the White Lotus, part of his mind was still elsewhere, with those brave young people who were risking everything to save the world. Had Zuko and Katara defeated Azula? Had Sokka, Suki and Toph been able to stop the airship fleet? And most importantly, had Aang been able to defeat Ozai? For that last question, at least, he had a possible answer. Just two hours ago, the western sky had lit up with an amazing display of light, ending with a pillar of blue light reminiscent of the one that had signaled the Avatar's reappearance at the South Pole. Iroh could only hope that this display of light had signaled the Firelord's defeat by the Avatar.<p>

Before Iroh was able to fully return his attention to the discussion at hand, it was interrupted by the arrival of one of the junior members of the White Lotus. "General Iroh, sir," the young man cried, skidding to a halt at the edge of the group. "This just arrived by messenger hawk," the young man continued, holding out a scroll tied with a red ribbon. "It's addressed to you."

"Thank you, Lee," Iroh said, taking the scroll from the young man. "You may return to your duties now."

As the messenger scampered off, Iroh opened the scroll and began to read.

_Uncle,_

_ We won. I have been officially recognized as the new Firelord by the Fire Sages themselves. Azula challenged me to an Agni Kai for the title upon my arrival at her coronation and I accepted. I wouldn't have accepted her challenge if it weren't for the fact that there was something off about her. She's gone mad, Uncle. There's no other way to put it. After Ozai named her Firelord, she banished everyone but the Fire Sages from the palace, saying that none of them could be trusted. I'm going to have to make arrangements for her to be taken to the asylum on Kaji Island._

_ Although Katara was the one to actually defeat Azula, the Fire Sages all agree that Azula forfeited the duel when she tried to attack Katara. Katara is insisting that I tell you why she was the one to defeat Azula. Azula tried to shoot Katara with lightning and even though I was able to redirect most of it, intercepting it in mid-leap meant that I wasn't able to redirect it properly. Katara saved my life with her healing._

_ Zuko_

_Well,_ Iroh thought as he finished reading, _it is good to hear that he won._ It was also quite a relief to hear that the Fire Sages had recognized Zuko's claim to the throne. He had been slightly worried about how secure Zuko's title as Firelord was going to be, but if there had been an official Agni Kai with the crown as the named prize for the winner and the Fire Sages all recognized Zuko as the winner, then Zuko's title was quite secure. Both the general populace and the nobility would accept the word of the Fire Sages that Zuko's claim was legitimate.

He was, however, concerned about the fact that the lightning had injured Zuko severely enough for him to say that Katara's healing saved his life. And, as strange as it seemed, he was also concerned about the fact that Azula had apparently gone mad. His niece may have been cruel and heartless, but that was the result of being shaped by Ozai from a young age. She certainly hadn't deserved insanity and he was glad that Zuko was going to give her the care she needed.

:-:-:-:-:

It had been about six hours since the battle ended and the sun had been up for a full hour before word of the others arrived. Even though he had gotten about two and a half hours of sleep once the surrender of the Fire Nation troops had been finalized, Iroh was still tired. He and Bumi were in the palace, drawing up plans for finding King Kuei, when they were interrupted by Piandao. "Iroh," the younger man said, "there's an airship coming in for a landing in front of the palace."

"Just one airship?" Iroh asked.

"Just one," Piandao confirmed.

"Then it might be Sokka and the others," Iroh said. "Still, we should be ready in case it isn't." With that, he followed Piandao out to the plaza in front of the palace.

"I've had to assign some of the mid-level members to do crowd control," Piandao said as they walked. "Word of what Ozai planned to do with the comet's power has gotten around, so there was some general panicking on the part of both the citizens of the city and the Fire Nation troops when they heard that there was an airship coming." By the time the two of them got out there, the airship had almost finished setting down.

Once the airship had settled to the ground, the doors in the middle of the ship opened and Sokka's familiar form emerged, supported by Toph. As he and Piandao got closer to the pair, Iroh noticed that the Water Tribe warrior appeared to be in some amount of pain. Seeing the bandages wrapped around Sokka's left leg, he realized that the boy must have been injured.

"Master Piandao," he called. "General Iroh. It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too, Sokka," Piandao said, approaching the young warrior and clasping his free hand. "Can we assume that this means you stopped the airship fleet?"

"Yes," Sokka said. "And Aang defeated Ozai, too. He even managed to do it without killing the guy."

"How did he manage that?" Iroh asked.

"He took away Ozai's bending," Sokka said.

Iroh's jaw dropped. Beside him, he heard Piandao give a low whistle of disbelief. "He _what?_" he exclaimed. Had he heard Sokka correctly? He had never heard of such a thing being done.

"He took away Ozai's bending," Sokka repeated.

"Where did he learn how to do _that?_" Iroh asked. Apparently he had heard Sokka correctly. Was this a technique that was unique to the Avatar? He hoped it was. He really hoped that it was something that only the Avatar could do.

"He says that a giant lion turtle taught him how to bend the energy inside a person," Toph said.

"And where are Aang and Ozai now?" Piandao asked.

"Twinkletoes is asleep in the control room," Toph said, "and the Loser Lord is in the back, being guarded by Suki."

"Has there been any word from Zuko and Katara?" Sokka asked.

"There has," Iroh said. "They defeated Azula and the Fire Sages have recognized Zuko as the new Firelord."

Upon hearing this, both children gave loud whoops of joy before Sokka pulled Toph into a hug. As they embraced, Sokka shouted, "I knew they'd do it!"

Pulling away from Sokka, Toph gave the warrior a hard punch on the arm. "Enough with the touchy-feely crap," she said. "It's great that they won, but you don't need to get all mushy about it."

"Ow, Toph, don't do that," Sokka said. "I already have a broken leg. I don't need a broken arm as well."

"Quit your whining," Toph said. "It wasn't that hard. You know that's how I show affection."

Stepping in to prevent further bickering, Iroh said, "You must both be exhausted and the same can probably be said of Aang and Suki as well."

"Yeah, we are," Sokka said. "I'm about ready to collapse and Suki isn't much better. She's mostly hanging on because none of us felt comfortable leaving Ozai unguarded. Aang collapsed about as soon as he got into the airship. Energybending or whatever it was that he did to strip Ozai of his bending is apparently extremely exhausting."

"Then you should go find a bed and get some rest," Piandao said. "I'll go find some of the junior members of the Order to guard Ozai so Suki can get some rest as well."

"Thanks," Sokka said. "I should probably send a message to Zuko to let him know that we won, but after I do that, I'll get some rest. Send Suki along once she's been relieved."

"Suki can go with you now," Iroh said. "I'll guard Ozai until Piandao can find someone else to do it. There are some things I want to say to him anyway."

As he headed for the back of the airship, Iroh thought about how the unexpected outcome of the battle between the Avatar and the Firelord might affect things in the future. While he was glad for Aang's sake that the boy had been able to resolve things in a way that let him keep his ideals intact, Iroh couldn't help but wonder if Ozai's continued survival would eventually cause problems for Zuko. It wasn't that he particularly _wanted_ his brother to die, but he was realistic enough to realize that it would have been easier for everyone if Aang had killed Ozai.

Reaching the back of the airship, Iroh saw Suki leaning against the wall beside a closed and bolted door. Looking up at the sound of his footsteps, the Kyoshi Warrior spotted him, her face breaking into a wide smile. "General Iroh," she said happily. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too, my dear," Iroh replied. "Go get some rest. I'll guard Ozai until someone else can be found to do it."

"Thank you," Suki said, sounding relieved. Standing up straighter, her exhaustion showed in the sag of her shoulders and the droop of her head. "Ozai's in there," she continued, pointing at the bolted door. "Toph put rock cuffs on him, so he shouldn't be able to cause any problems."

"Even if he does, I'm sure I'll be able to handle him," Iroh said. "Now go, my dear. I'm sure you're eager to get some rest. If you could make sure that Aang gets to a real bed as well, that would be appreciated."

Thanking him once more and promising to take care of Aang, Suki headed down the corridor toward the airship's exit. Iroh waited until he was certain she was gone before he unbolted the door and entered the small cell. Ozai was seated against the far wall, his hands bound behind his back by Toph's rock cuffs. Looking up at the sound of the door opening, Ozai locked eyes with Iroh. The two brothers just stared at each other for a while, neither willing to give in to the other.

Iroh had not seen his brother since he left to guide Zuko during his banishment and he was surprised to see that Ozai looked little different than he had three years ago. His face was still sharply chiseled and unlined by age or stress and his body was as muscular as it ever had been. Thinking logically, though, there was little reason for Ozai to look different. Although Zuko had changed greatly during those three years, especially in the last six months, there would have been little change for Ozai, save for the fact that he had finally gotten his brother and his son out of his hair, likely permanently.

Finally, Ozai was the first one to look away before he broke the silence that had settled between them. "Are you here to gloat?" he asked.

"No," said Iroh.

"Then why are you here?" Ozai asked.

"I'm here because I have some things to say to you," Iroh replied. "I've been waiting for this moment since the day you burned and banished Zuko. Seeing you sitting here, stripped of your bending, I pity you, I truly do. You're looking for someone else to blame for your downfall, but really, you have only yourself to blame. Three years ago, you were the one who pushed Zuko into taking the first steps down the path that brought him to where he is now. You were laying the foundation for that path even earlier, every time you dismissed or ignored him simply because he wasn't as talented as Azula. There's only so much of that that can occur before the ignored one begins to wonder if the fault is with the other party. You did to Zuko the same thing that our father did to you. All Zuko ever wanted was to please you, but you continually responded with disdain for him."

"He was weak," Ozai said. "I was trying to make him into a man."

"A man?" Iroh laughed bitterly. "What kind of a man rejects his son for lack of talent? What kind of a man belittles his son so constantly that the boy believes he is worthless? What kind of a man challenges his son—his thirteen year old son—to an Agni Kai simply for speaking out of turn? _What kind of a man burns his own son's face for refusing to fight him?_"

"He needed to learn respect," Ozai said, "and that was the only way to teach him."

"By any other standards, he was showing you respect when he refused to fight you," Iroh said. "But all you could see was his fear—his justified fear—and deemed him weak because of it. It is no thanks to you that he has grown into the fine, honorable young man he is today. If you had had your way, he would be just as much of a monster as you are, as you have turned Azula into. And look where it's gotten both of you. You've been stripped of your bending and Azula has gone mad."

"Azula has gone mad?" Ozai repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

"I only know what Zuko wrote in his note to tell me of his victory," Iroh said. "He said that she was going to have to be taken to the asylum on Kaji Island. She apparently banished everyone except the Fire Sages from the palace as being untrustworthy."

"So she couldn't handle the pressure of being Firelord," Ozai sneered. "I guess she was weak, too. And you're weaker than either of them. If you had any courage at all, you would have said all this to me before I lost my power."

"It took more courage than you'll ever know to wait this long to say it," Iroh replied. "If I had only had myself to think of, I would have said all of this long ago. But I had Zuko to think of as well. It was only for his sake that I have remained silent all these years that you have been mistreating him. Having this conversation while you were still Firelord could have deprived him of the one remaining adult who actually cared for him and I was not willing to risk that possibility."

Having said all that he wanted to, Iroh left the cell, closing and bolting the door as he left. Leaning against the wall in the corridor outside the cell, he thought about what had been said. The conversation had been cathartic for him, letting him finally release all the frustration and anger that he had been holding in for the past six years, all the frustration and anger he had felt over Ozai's treatment of Zuko. He had meant every word he said, although some of them had been harsher than he'd intended. He was not surprised that Ozai had dismissed Azula as weak now that she had gone mad, but he had not expected his brother's complete lack of regret for Azula's madness. He supposed it simply meant that Ozai had never seen her as any more than another tool to further his ambitions.

Sighing with regret for his brother's blindness, Iroh savored the fact that the war was over. Not only that, the war was over to the benefit of all the nations, which was something he had not thought possible even just a year ago.


End file.
